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More and more caregivers are aware of the importance and benefits of neutering that encourages them to intervene for their dogs. Thus, questions arise about how the operation is performed, what it consists of or how long does it take for a dog to recover after neutering, which is what we'll explain in this Animal Expert article.
In addition, we will see how to heal the wound left by this procedure. As a first point of importance, we should always go to a veterinarian with proven experience and follow their directions, don't forget that.
Castration in dogs
Before talking about how long it takes a dog to recover after neutering, we should know what this operation consists of. Firstly, it is recommended to do it briefly so that the dog can benefit from the positive effects on your health, such as those related to prostate or testicular tumors. Before the intervention, It is important to have a check on our dog that includes a basic blood test to detect if there is any health problem to be considered, especially if the dog is already elderly.
On the day chosen for surgery, we must go to the clinic with the dog In fasting. The operation consists of extracting the testes in male dogs or the uterus and ovaries in females, through a small incision, of course, with the anesthetized dog. The area is shaved and disinfected beforehand. The incision is closed with some stitches that may or may not be apparent, the region is disinfected again, and within a short time the dog fully wakes up and can continue to recover at home.
Care after castration
As we have seen, we can quickly return home with our dog. There we should consider the following recommendations, which ensure good care for newly neutered dogs:
- Keep the dog calm, avoiding sudden movements or jumps that could open the wound.
- Prevent him from licking or biting the incision to prevent the stitches from being removed. Also, the wound can become infected. For this, we can use a Elizabethan necklace, at least for as long as we can't monitor it. Some dogs feel suffocated from it, however, you might think it will only take a few days.
- give you the medication prescribed by the veterinarian that will serve to alleviate any pain and reduce the risk of infections.
- Clean the wound, as we'll see in the next section.
- The surgery is likely to affect the dog's nutritional needs, so from the very beginning, we should adjust its diet to avoid the overweight.
- Go to review when advising the veterinarian. In many cases the stitches are removed in about a week.
- Naturally, if the wound looks infected, opens up, or the dog appears to be very sore, we should contact the veterinarian.
So, if we ask ourselves how long it takes a dog to recover after neutering him, we will see that he will have a normal life practically since his return home, although care should continue. for one week about.
Heal the castration wound
We saw how long a dog takes to recover after neutering and, for this recovery, it is important to maintain the woundalways clean. Therefore, we have already seen that it is essential to prevent our dog from licking or chewing it. Also, at least once a day, we should clean it with some disinfectant, such as chlorhexidine, which can be found in a convenient spray that allows us to apply it simply by spraying the area, causing minimal discomfort.
Otherwise, we can wet a gauze or cotton and pass it through the incision, always without rubbing. In a few days, we'll see that the skin will be completely closed, at which time it will no longer be necessary to disinfect, but control until the veterinary discharge is received.
Castration Discomforts
Once we've explained how long it takes a dog to recover after neutering, we should consider other discomforts that can be observed, in addition to the healing problems that can be minimized by following the above mentioned precautions.
For example, if our dog cries after neutering, it may be because he is bothered by the visit to the vet, the medication and the discomfort he may feel in the affected area, hence the importance of analgesia.
We may also notice that he eats less, sleeps more, or is down. All this shouldn't last more than one day. Furthermore, it is possible that our dog does not urinate after neutering him, also because of the discomfort in the area during the first hours, although these situations we describe are not frequent and resolve by themselves, as it is usual that the dog resumes normal life after returning home. otherwise we must notify the veterinarian.